Why The Rookie has to end soon
With the news that The Rookie scored a 7th season renewal on April 15th of this year, and with the strike-impacted 2023-24 TV season over and done with, I think it's time for me to write an opinion on the show's future.
...I think The Rookie should definitely end.
Now, this is not to say that I hated the show in the first place. I still love the show, and to me it's the only show worth watching on the network. What I am saying is that the show should have a natural conclusion. As in, let the story finish organically.
You can't have the show go on forever and not let it have a conclusion. It's not like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or anything. The Rookie is supposed to have a finite story - as in, have a beginning, middle, and an end.
The reason why I am saying that The Rookie should end its story sooner or later is that, not only does it look like we are approaching what is probably the endgame of the entire show (if you have seen the S6 finale), but it also makes sense financially.
The Rookie is a co-production of Lionsgate (who purchased eOne before S6 aired), and as such, it costs more than ABC's in-house productions. Second, it's also an aging program. It has been on air since 2018, and by the time its seventh season goes on the air early next year, it would have been a whopping EIGHT years since the show first started airing.
Plus, there was word that negotiations for this year's renewal were not as easy as I thought, and the cast contracts will be up by the time this year comes to a close.
And last but not least, L+SD ratings are not as strong as they once were back in the show's earlier seasons. As of this blog post, the final episode of season six, which is the tenth episode of the recently-concluded season, is at 0.30 in the 18-49 L+SD demo. It is certain that, the seventh season of the show, once it airs in early 2025, will reach brand-new lows.
But wait! If the show is doing so well in delayed and multiplatform viewing, and does reasonably well in streaming, not to mention that the show just passed its 100th episode - can't it allow ABC and Lionsgate to negotiate to keep The Rookie going for at least a couple more seasons? And because Nathan Fillion - the show's main star - has worked wonders for the Disney-owned broadcast network before with Castle - isn't it reasonable for him to say that the show will only end once he feels like it's the time to do so?
It's a given fact that nearly each and every TV show will experience a decline in numbers - especially long-runners and network shows that come with 24 episodes per season. And it's bound to happen to The Rookie sooner or later, if it keeps going for longer than it was meant to be. We have seen this with way too many TV shows that ran past their natural expiration dates - Supernatural, The Walking Dead, Riverdale, Dexter (YES, I saw the show, and I am being generous). If it kept going for far longer than usual - what kind of fan will boast that the later seasons of The Rookie are far superior to the earlier years of the show? And, if I ever had to put in a potential jump the shark moment for The Rookie, it would have to be when John Nolan calls it quits and resigns himself from his dream career at the LAPD. (Hopefully this doesn't happen in S7!)
ABC has known that The Rookie is one of their reliable 1-hour dramas - but, like I said, it would have not been possible without Nathan Fillion as the lead role. How would John Nolan be the likable and charismatic protagonist he is if Nathan was never cast in the role? Would the show have made it to six seasons if it were not for the man himself in the title role? Nathan used his charm to bring Nolan to life - and we saw him what he was going through, and we feel for him.
Also, it's important to consider the show's original two timeslots - Tuesdays at 10 PM for its first season, and Sundays at 10 for Season 2 to the first half of season 5. Those two time slots are some of the cursed on the network - and for broadcast TV as a whole. So many previous shows have tried to make those time slots work for the network - and failed miserably. But The Rookie prevailed in those two time slots - and made them work. The show made those two time slots worth it.
And it was a breakout hit for the network because of all that.
It was successful enough for it to make it to six seasons across four different time slots - Tuesdays at 10 PM, Sundays at 10 PM, Tuesdays at 8 PM, and now Tuesdays at 9 PM - and managed to get a short-lived spinoff show - The Rookie: Feds (which was AWESOME, BTW) - that sadly lasted only one season.
John Nolan is no dumb LEO - whom, in spite of having joined the LAPD as the oldest rookie in the police force - has gained experience and learns from his mistakes. He is fairly competent, and he may have had a few missteps, but he is human, like all of us. He has had his flaws and obstacles - like all of us. And guess what? He got over them. And he knows when to put the past behind him - he always does, and never looks back. He moves on for the better.
It's also worth considering that several ABC shows came to an end after seven seasons - Once Upon A Time, for instance, and recently, The Good Doctor and Station 19. The Conners is also announced to have a seventh and shortened final season. It makes sense for The Rookie to have its forthcoming seventh season be announced as the last, too.
Also, I should point out that the HBO original series Six Feet Under had only five seasons. It could have gone on for a long time, but Alan Ball knew that the story was finite, and, once he completed the show's overall storyline, he moved on to True Blood and other things. Another show that ran for five seasons is Breaking Bad. When the show ended in 2013, it was very popular. It would have gone on for many years, but Vince Gilligan made the story finite, with a beginning, middle, and end. And rather than churn out ten-plus more seasons of BB, he made a spinoff/prequel of the mothership show, titled Better Call Saul, and an epilogue movie, El Camino, all set in the same universe.
That inevitable decline in quality in which I pointed out to the four aforementioned shows? Well, that didn't happen to both SFU and BB. The reason why they didn't decline is that their creators had planned a complete story - with a start, and with a finish. They didn't plan to stretch out the story for twenty-or-so-seasons, and the quality did not go down as a result. And it was all due to their short number of seasons. To be fair, BB ran for six seasons, but the 5th and final season was split into two parts.
It's kinda like the boyfriend who will break up with you because he knows that the relationship will easily go south, and it won't be as memorable. But the memories you and your ex-boyfriend will eventually have are going to mostly be the good ones.
If there are lessons that many American networks - like ABC - have to learn, then it's quitting while you are ahead. While some networks did eventually learn that lesson, for the most part, unfortunately, they do not. Many of them stretch shows out to ludicrous numbers (Hello, Family Guy and NCIS!) for the sake of both brand recognition and money, and in the process, lose the edge that made them so good in the earlier years of their runs.
And we are going to get a seventh season of The Rookie, whatever we like it or not. But we know that the show's natural end to the story is coming. Nolan is nearing the end of his arc, and he has grown from a rookie cop who was to be doubted because of his age, to becoming a valuable and respected member of the Mid-Wilshire LAPD family. His life with Bailey is moving forward, and he has chosen his career road. It was all thanks to his determination, his life experiences, and his sense of humor.
I may also add that the story cannot end on a massive cliffhanger and leave it incomplete and unfinished. Several TV shows are accused of pulling this ending off, such as Final Space, Legends of Tomorrow, My Name is Earl, and Inside Job, leaving them on a hugely unsatisfying note. When a story ends on a cliffhanger, it ends up disappointing almost everyone, and what we get is what TV Tropes calls an Accidental Downer Ending. Maybe the show's creators might pull off a Castle and film an alternate ending just in case the Rookie gets the axe by ABC?
What I would like to see is the story reaching its natural end, as in, give viewers and longtime fans a satisfying ending that ties up nearly, if not all, loose threads. Any remaining loose threads can then be explored in miniseries or several spin-off shows.
As a longtime viewer of the show - having watched every single episode live since day one, being part of the built-in audience, and with the show being considered my appointment television on primetime nights, I want to see the story of John Nolan and the rest of the LAPD Mid-Wilshire team be told in a complete and satisfying manner, not letting it go on too long or have it cut by a massive cliffhanger. I would love to see more stories of the Mid-Wilshire family told, but at the same time, I don't want the show to overstay its welcome and be a sad corn husk of its former self.
With that, I strongly believe that the forthcoming 7th season of The Rookie will most likely be its last, due to the financial and creative reasons I described above.
Thank you for reading this post, and have a good day.
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